[Heart transplantation. The current problems of patient selection, examination and treatment]. / Transplantatsiia serdtsa. Aktual'nye voprosy otbora, obsledovaniia i lecheniia bol'nykh.

An analysis was made of the work carried out by the Department of Coronary Surgery and Heart Transplantation as regards heart transplantations during 1988. As many as 119 patients, hypothetical heart recipients, received medical advice. The Department refused hospitalization to 42 patients because of the nonconformity to the indications and contraindications to heart transplantation. 77 patients were admitted to the Department. During examinations and treatment, 53 persons were discharged from hospital. 8 patients died before donor's hearts were received. Donor's hearts were transplanted to 10 patients. 3 persons died from severe infectious complications on days 12, 15 and 43 after the operation. Following the operation 7 patients have been surviving from 4 to 17 months. The patients' status remains satisfactory. The functional parameters of the donor's heart are within normal. Taking into consideration the lack of the treatment methods for patients with terminal heart lesions, it is necessary that the number of operations be increased. A great importance in this case is attached to the joint efforts of internists and cardiologists, aimed at the screening and examination of potential heart recipients.